This Readme document contains important information to read before installing Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008. It describes how to find installation assistance in Books Online, how to find Upgrade Advisor, how to find supplemental product information in the Release Notes, and copyright attributions for the product. This readme also applies to the following products:

Use Books Online for Installation Assistance

SQL Server 2008 Books Online is the primary documentation for getting assistance with installing SQL Server. You can obtain Books Online in the following ways:

Install Books Online by selecting the SQL Server 2008 Books Online feature in this release of SQL Server 2008. After installing, update to the latest version, which is available from the Books Online download page.

The help file for updates (s10ch_update.chm) can be opened the same way.

The following Books Online topics on MSDN contain important information about installing SQL Server 2008. These topics are also in the installed versions of Books Online and in the s10ch_setup.chm file.

Analyze Your Upgrade with Upgrade Advisor

The Upgrade Advisor tool analyzes your current instance of SQL Server and provides important information you should know before upgrading. For information about SQL Server 2008 Upgrade Advisor, see the Upgrade Advisor Web site.

Read the Release Notes for the Latest Product Information

The Release Notes provide supplemental information about product behaviors that apply only to this release or that are not documented in this release of Books Online.
You can find the Release Notes on the
Release Notes page.

Copyright Attributions

This product includes software from the 'zlib' general purpose compression library.

Portions of this software are based in part on the work of RSA Data Security, Inc. Because Microsoft has included the RSA Data Security, Inc., software in this product, Microsoft is required to include the text below that accompanied such software:

License to copy and use this software is granted provided that it is identified as the "RSA Data Security, Inc., MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm" in all material mentioning or referencing this software or this function. License is also granted to make and use derivative works provided that such works are identified as "derived from the RSA Data Security, Inc., MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm" in all material mentioning or referencing the derived work.

RSA Data Security, Inc., makes no representations concerning either the merchantability of this software or the suitability of this software for any particular purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty of any kind.

These notices must be retained in any copies of any part of this documentation and/or software.